1. My uncle once: wanted to be a rock star.

2. Never in my life: have I done any illegal drugs.

3. When I was five: I was in kindergarten, pretending I didn�t know how to read.

4. High School was: filled with some fun, mixed with a whole lot of pain.

5. I will never forget: the weekend of my 30^th birthday.

6. I once met: Ron Hawkins and the Low, along with my roommie�Collin Raye�and the guys in Confederate Railroad.

7. There’s this girl I know: who has surprised me more than once in the past three years.

8. Once, at a bar: I hopped up on the bar and danced with a pole, sandwiched between two lesbians.

9. By noon I’m usually: that depends on what day it is�

10. Last night: I met a bunch of cool people.

11. If I only had: a full-time teaching job in WNY.

12. Next time I go to church: I�ll probably either be at a wedding or teaching Catholic school. 😉

13. Terry Schiavo: really, really should have had a living will.

14. What worries me most: is that I will not be able to find the job I want.

15. When I turn my head left, I see: a bunch of books, a Shakespeare doll, Jen�s purses

16. When I turn my head right, I see: a photo of the junior high cheerleaders I coached, photos of friends� babies, a Carbon Leaf concert poster, more books.

17. You know I’m lying when: I won�t look at you.

18. What I miss most about the eighties: hmmm�I have plenty of nostalgia for the eighties, but I don�t know if I actually *miss* anything.

19. If I was a character written by Shakespeare, I’d be: either dead or married.

20. By this time next year: I will be teaching full time.

21. A better name for me would be: I think my name�s just fine, thanks.

22. I have a hard time understanding: the marketing of slutty clothes to prepubescent girls.

23. If I ever go back to school I’ll: get my PhD.

24. You know I like you if: I hug you.

25. If I won an award, the first person I’d thank would be: well, geez�I guess that depends on what the award is, and what it�s for. Rand. Jen. My parents. My favorite teacher(s)�

26. Darwin, Mozart, Slim Pickens & Geraldine Ferraro: dead, dead, dead, not dead.

27. Take my advice: don�t tug on Superman�s cape. Or spit into the wind. 😉

28. My ideal breakfast is: a Belgian waffle topped with fruit and whipped cream.

29. A song I love, but do not have is: I can�t think of any.

30. If you visit my hometown, I suggest: visiting Straub�s Brewery and Decker�s Chapel.

31. Tulips, character flaws, microchips & track stars: would be an excellent name for a rock band. Or, you know, the next folk-singing sensation. 😉

32. Why won’t people: just get along?

33. If you spend the night at my house: try to avoid stepping in cat puke. 😉

34. I’d stop my wedding for: I can�t imagine.

35. The world could do without: hate.

36. I�d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: be surrounded by bees. ACK! BEES!

37. My favorite blonde is: um, my friend Mary?

38. Paper clips are: necessary?

39. If I do anything well, it’s: love. (that�s the verb�)

40. And by the way: take this quiz if you want�just post a comment with a link if you do!:)

Many, many thanks to Alan (the BuffaloPundit) for organizing the first
Buffalo BloggerCon at Anchor Bar. I got to meet a bunch of very, very cool people.

Check out the photo at Fix Buffalo.

I was very happy to meet all who came out. Hope to see you (and others) again soon!

It was brought to my attention that, perhaps, I should have alerted readers to spoilers ahead. I wasn’t thinking clearly. My apoligies… 😉

Holy crap.

No, I’m serious. Holy CRAP.

ABC kicked so much major booty last night.

First, the 2-hour season finale of Lost. Not many questions answered, but a few more raised.

Science teacher guy explodes? Yikes!

The hatch has the creepy numbers on it? Yikes!

Locke goes ahead and lights the fuse even though Walt went all nutso and told him not to open it AND Hurley practically got himself blown up trying to stop him? Yikes!

Black smoke leads to….crazy French lady? Yikes!

And “rescue” boat takes Walt, leaves Michael, Sawyer and Jin in the ocean and blows up the raft?

YIKES!

And all this was *nothing* compared to the Alias finale.

First, I have to say again…Lena Olin is one hot woman. I’m completely and utterly straight, but I think Lena Olin could make me question. Wow.

I knew there had to be something coming at the end. Syd and Co. save the world from Armageddon, Syd and Vaughn are engaged, Nadia’s not dead…lalala…all is well.

And then…

“My name’s not Michael Vaughn.”

I think that little statement would have been enough. Really…keep the viewers going WTF for the whole summer.

But then…

BAM!

Hit by a bleeping car.

Jen and I screamed so loud that I can’t believe the neighbors didn’t come knocking.

That, my friends, is good television. 😉

Today is Teacher Appreciation Day at my (adopted) school. Dismissal is at 11:30, and there is a luncheon for the faculty afterwards.

I can’t believe tomorrow is my last day here. It seems so strange. The kids, of course, are very excited about their teacher coming back…I try not to take that personally. I was sharing a story with Rand one day, and he said, “Well that must make you feel good.”

Well, I admit to feeling a twinge of, “What? They don’t like me?” But then I remember that I want to be a teacher that my students will miss if I’m gone for an extended period of time.

Hmm…speaking of students…I caught the 7th grade prank callers! One of the girls was talking to me in class, and the conversation led to her saying something (a silly rhyme with my name) that had just so happened to be left on my answering machine Saturday. I called her on it, and her face went blank. From the back of the room, another girl started to laugh.

“Busted,” she called out.

Heh.

I didn’t do anything to them…I figure now that they know I’m onto them, they won’t be calling anymore. So that’s over. (I hope!)

Lost and Alias finales tonight…woohoo!

Okay, maybe I’m the naive one here…or maybe I just haven’t been paying attention.

The other day, I was in Stereo Advantage with Rand. We walked by the plasma TVs, and he asked me, “Are you ready to pay $2000 for a TV?”

I snorted.

“Well, it’s the future,” he said.

“Then I guess I’m going to have to be behind the times,” I said.

He then explained to me that by the end of 2006, I would no longer be able to receive regular TV broadcasts on my analog set.

“It’s going to take an act of Congress for you to be able to watch TV on your current set,” he said.

What? Where the heck have I been? Have people been talking about this since the FCC mandated the switch in 1998?

I did a little google search, and found very little that was not technobabble. This was a good article from the (Mississippi) Clarion-Ledger…2006 conversion deadline looming.

By July 1, all TV sets measuring at least 36 inches diagonally must be sold with digital tuners. By Dec. 31 of 2006, the conversion to digital, allegedly, will be complete.

Supposedly, then, broadcasters will no longer air analog signals by Jan. 1, 2007.

Oh, but don’t worry, because HDTV sets are “going to get cheaper.”

They’ve been cheapening for years. In 2001, they were $2,000 or more. Now you can buy one of the smaller sets for less than $1,000, says Eddie Maloney of Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City Superstores, based in Jackson.

There are plans to offer lower-cost standard definition sets (which also have a lower-quality signal) for about $300 or more.

Oh, well thank goodness. Here I was worried that I was going to have to spend a lot of money on a TV.

And you *will* be able to get a special converter box for your old, crappy analog tv, for an additional per-month charge, of course.

So why is this happening? Other than “better picture quality” blah blah blah whatever?

And there’s the money � not for the broadcasters, for whom it will take a while to recover conversion costs. It’s money for the federal government, which can make billions of dollars off the analog spectrum.

Ahhhh…yes. That makes sense.

So tell me again, why is hardly anyone talking about this? Is this as outrageous as I’m thinking? Am I alone here? Please chime in on this discussion!

More info:

The digital TV transition: the fairytale continues
Frequently asked questions
Digital Television conversion: what’s it mean?

And I’ve been putting off this post because I haven’t watched the episode in its entirety yet, but…

SpyMommy’s back, baby! Woohoo!

Lena Olin is unspeakably fabulous. And Alias is at its best when the whole SpyFamily is together. I did a little dance when I saw her.

More later, after I watch the whole thing. Actually, maybe I’ll just wait until after the finale.

I haven’t watched Lost yet, either. Shhh…

Oh, but I did see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou last week. I enjoyed that, and must again thank Rand for introducing me to the work of Wes Anderson. Yay!

Also caught Star Wars Episode II on TV last night. Eh. Natalie Portman and Hayden Christiensen are both so much better than they look in that movie. But Ewan…mmmmm. Yay for Obi Wan. 😉 And now I guess I can see Episode III, and this whole cultural phenomenon will not have passed me by.

I wasn’t really affected by Star Wars as a child. I was four when the original Star Wars came out. I remember the whole Luke and Leia are brother and sister and (gasp!) Vader is their father thing being a big deal. I remember playing with other people’s Star Wars toys. I remember that dreadful made-for-tv Ewok movie.

So? I don’t know…

My college boyfriend, K, had an unhealthy obsession with both Star Wars and the music of John Williams. I can’t explain it. 😉 I actually got the boy a light saber for Christmas the last year we were together. It was just coming up on the anniversary release of the original film. That was lots of fun after we broke up…Star Wars *everywhere*. I wasn’t bitter about that at all… 😉

Okay…erin-go-blog is not going anywhere.

I do, however, realize that I need to make a few changes, just in the topics/tone of my entries. It has never been my intention to hurt or ridicule, or to reveal sensitive information. I need to remember what I do, and who I am, and make sure that my posts are always reflective of that.

Thank you again for your advice/comments/concerns. I have taken it all to heart (maybe too much, in some cases. 😉 )

Since I’ve been hearing about this, I decided to do some investigating. I found the following at Snopes:

Celling your soul

Claim: A directory of cell phone numbers will soon be published.

Status: Multiple:

* A consortium of wireless providers is planning to create a 411 (directory assistance) service for cell phone numbers: True.

* You must register your cell phone with the national “Do Not Call” directory before 1 January 2005 to prevent your number from being provided to telemarketers: False.

So that’s that. 🙂

Thanks for the comments.

I must say, I’m not feeling encouraged. At this point, I’m not sure if I should even continue blogging…I don’t see how to do it without completely changing everything about the way I blog.

This upsets me.

After all, I like my blog. I like my blog name. I like my little doodle of me. I like writing about my life. I like the people who come and read my little ramblings.

But I know that what I don’t need is for this space to become a source of worry and distress in my life, and right now, it is.

I’m afraid there’s too much already “out there” to take back.

I’m afraid of feeling like I have to censor myself every time I write something.

I’m afraid of worrying constantly about who might be reading.

And I don’t know what to do about it.

This week, a few people close to me have expressed concerns about my blog, given my profession and the fact that I’m looking for employment. I’ve been through several stages of processing this information…and come to the conclusion that I need to take more care in what I’m posting for public consumption.

Often, I will say things flippantly, with a bit of sarcasm, meant for humorous effect, but I think I need to keep in mind that some people happening upon this space might not take things this way.

I don’t want to entirely change the way I write…this space has become very important to me. I enjoy writing about my life, and sometimes this is where I vent my little annoyances, irritations and frustrations. Maybe I just need to watch *how* I say things.

I try to maintain a little measure of anonymity…not posting names (other than my first name and the first names of some of my friends and family) or specific places of employment…but is it enough?

Does anyone out there have any thoughts on this? Do you worry about anonymity? Has anyone found your blog or journal that you wouldn’t want reading it?

Also, I’ve been thinking…maybe I should look into creating a personal website that would maximize potential when my name is googled. I don’t know at the moment what that would entail, but it’s a thought…

I don’t know.

Anyway, thank goodness it’s Friday. I’m off to PA for my friend’s baby shower and to spend a little time with my family. I also have Toasted Cheese submissions to read. Should make for a busy, busy weekend, so don’t expect to hear from me until next week! Happy Friday, everyone.